FAIRHOPE, ALABAMA… a poem of childhood (My hometown!)

Crystal, clear bright waters

Remind me of my childhood.

Red cliffs of clay

Daunting, but scalable.

Long hanging wild scuppernong vines

God made for boys to swing out over a sandy, gully floor.

Catching crawfish hiding beneath the weeds and mud

Within a cold stream.

Moonlit nights on Mobile Bay

Chasing fireflies in the park.

Frisbee’s tossed to and fro

By boys with shoulder length hair.

Hobie Cat sailboats line the shore

While mothers splash with toddlers in the gentle waves.

Riding our banana bikes to grandma’s

Because mom and dad were there for gumbo.

Picking every vegetable imaginable

From grandpa’s garden.

Digging worms beneath the compost pile

To use for fishing the next day.

Yes, life was much simpler

When I was a young man growing up in Fairhope, Alabama.